Confessions of a buttonholic

Button Workshop Feb 5th

2010-02-07T04:00:00.001-08:00

Above is the necklace I made yesterday, started during the button workshop and finished in the calm of the afternoon..after all the other buttonholics had left.
The Dorset buttons from the previous workshop became gorgeous necklaces with a little bit of freeform crochet :)
It was great to have an afternoon of finishing things off.
The button workshop was a great success! The buttons started off as above sorted into colours and a couple of dishes of fancy ones (this time I went through and took out my favorites ;)
As soon as everyone sat down they started gathering a stash of buttons each, there was lots of grabbing going on Dy wanted all the green ones, and Lia managed to find a handmade ceramic one I missed he he it was just like school! There is something about searching through the buttons that switches us back into child mode.
It was a really lovely morning as you can see the buttons were soon all over the table as everyone slowly turned them into jewellery and button hearts. My confession this week is that I felt a bit mean keeping out all the best ones so ended up bringing more and more out from the back room as well as more beads for finishing off.
Clariece made these gorgeous hearts and a button charm bracelet.
Debbie made a heart a bracelet and this brooch, I love how these buttons complimented each other and the bead just finishes it off!
Lia managed to incorporate the ceramic button into this lovely necklace.
Julie did a different style button necklace using cord and wooden beads.
Dy managed to use all green button stash to make this necklace and went home wearing it :)

Colette made this necklace at a previous button workshop and made the earrings to go with it this time along with a multicoloured button necklace.
Everyone said it was great fun, and apparently Dy and Julie went off to the Dairy House to show Sue what they'd made and stock up on vintage buttons.
I will be doing demonstrations of how to use up your button stash at The Dairy House Costume and Textile day on the 11th of April...and of course will be adding to my stash ;)

Confession 6 a long time coming!

2010-01-23T03:25:00.000-08:00

I have to admit it has been a very long time since my last confession, but I have committed many sins! I have been extremely busy, we moved house in October..and I think i started packing in July! Slowly sorting through all our stuff and doing lots of clearing, so I did abstain from buying buttons etc for a couple of months ;) My button stash along with the fabrics and beads was moved into the back room of the shop,which is now my workspace..except there is now no room to work lol! It started off very tidy, but gradually..
I have added to it again. Visiting Shepton Mallet Flea Market is very dangerous!
These are just some of my recent finds.
I have added a Vintage market to my website, which means I can collect all the lovely vintage haberdashery and patterns as well as old knitting patterns and needles. It is going to take me a while to list everything but I am determined this year to really work on the website, and of course the more bit I sell the more I can buy ;)
I have also, been busy running button workshops. With help from two of my knitting friends I ran a Dorset button Workshop, (I was being taught and making tea.) starting off making a traditional Dorset button, then playing with different yarns and adding beads to make them more funky! Great to add a bit of glam to finished knitwear.
My Button workshops also went really well, everyone ends up leaving with the most amazing necklaces.

Claire only just got away with leaving with the one above, she obviously had a good eye for a button ;) and accumulated a stash of all my favorites..I did try saying it would look nice with some of the plain ones mixed in.. *note to self do remove favorite buttons before sharing* lol
It is amazing the way people see colour, everybody is so different I loved all the necklaces that were made and it does inspire me to get making more :)
Sending out lots of button love xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

where have all my buttons gone ?..

2009-06-23T08:26:00.000-07:00

I have been using up a little bit of my button stash.

The bracelets below have buttons sewn onto a very thick glittery yarn in different shades of blue. So I can wear some of my lovely vintage buttons :) These sell really well and I will putting some of these on Etsy and Folksy this week.

I also make lots of mobile phone socks, which are great for using some of the larger buttons.
I love this button Necklace made with a 1960's (I think) perspex button. I only bought 6 of them and really wish I had got more.
I use buttons with the felt flowers a lot, I really like to find contrasting colours and add beads in to the middle.
These little heart brooches use quite a lot of buttons and i have used some of my favorite vintage ones on these.

I have these little hearts for sale in my shop and my aim is to make kits up, with the brooch backs and a little bag of vintage buttons..it will be good fun sorting the buttons to go in the bags.
I do have a whole lot of buttons that are in a secret stash, that i know are very old and should not be used on crafts. mmmm think I need to have a little look at them and remind myself which ones they are.

Last week i was very lucky to get 3 gifts of buttons a little bag from a customer, a gorgeous vintage tin full of buttons from Laure aka (Deja vu on ravelry) and a little box kate found on her travels. So I have plenty of button therapy lined up for when I need it :) Thankyou so much girls :)

Confessions, 3, 4 and 5!

2009-06-17T11:27:00.001-07:00

I had been working really hard and not had a button fix for ages, I read marianedwardsdreamweaver blog and really had to get out of my shop and hunt down some buttons. She found the most fantastic button shop in NYC (unfortunatly), I cannot spare the time to go on holiday at the mo so i think I should hurry up and make my shop look like that!

Confession No 3

Tony and I escaped on Friday morning for a coffee at Shaftesbury, so I just had to pop into one of the second hand shops and found this cute basket full of sewing bits..no buttons though. It was very strange for me and Tony to be out on our own..we were nearly skipping down the street! George ran the shop while we were out, he has some very handy free lessons on Friday mornings, next Friday (need to save up first) I am going to visit The dairy House on My own...very very dangerous for a button addict!!! mmm I may need an escort...just to help me load the van ha!
Confession No 4. We did a car boot on Sunday to get rid of a lot of Arthurs old clothes and Toys..that was the idea and probably the only way I could get Tony there he he! I went for a little wander when I had set up our bits (half an hour before the publics allowed in) it was huge, I only went two stands away before I found this lovely tin of pearl buttons, I had to open the tin to find them. Rule no 1 of hunting for buttons at car boots..always look in the tins!!

This was an expensive tin of buttons from someone who does vintage fairs, but still quite a bargain I think. Pearl has been used for centuries and I know in this tin there are some carved pearl buttons from the late eighteenth century to early nineteenth century so well over a 150 years old. I can't wait to go through this tin of buttons and clean and sort them. I know I have a stash ready for my next fix when needed.

Confession (and its a big one!) No 5
I went back to our stand and made a nice cup of tea..for Tony, Arthur was having fun collecting cars, and then went off again two boots the other way. I spotted this box and opened one side of it, my jaw dropped open and my heart started to pound, then I opened the other side and pulled it right open..then I dared to ask the price while biting my lip to make myself look in pain and not too excited :)

The price was far more than i usually would buy things for at a carboot, but I had taken more cash with me with the idea of getting stock for the shop (how lucky am i that I can use that excuse to feed my addiction.) any way I stupidly said ok without even bargaining because it was well worth the price, but I really must bite my lip a bit more and learn to haggle! mmm need a few more lessons I think.

Today I opened it up properly and looked at the stash inside, I love the cotton reels and the vintage knitting and crochet patterns.

How fab are these? If you click on the baby knitting book you will see it describes different forms of underwear..I want know what Pilch Knickers are????
I have just lost some pictures somewhere, of some lovely mens crocheted ties..which I am definetly going to make!

Ok so heres the biggy! having already purchased the above on the same stall I spotted these buttons and asked how much they were, 'oh no dear they come with the whole box' then I noticed the box (always look in the box!) and I really really wanted the buttons, lip biting again (totally raw on one side now!) I asked how much taking into consideration I was about to buy the other Box.
They did the both of them for a figure I just happened to have in my pocket, whoops!! Tony nearly choked on his tea when he saw me walking back with the boxes (man followed me with second box) we were supposed to be clearing the junk, he said his normal 'she's gone mad' and then I showed him inside the boxes and he totally understood..Bless. Arthur was to busy playing with his cars to notice.
How gorgeous are these buttons, some from the 50's and 60's and the mop in the front actually looks 20's but not sure.
I have had my button and vintage fix for a while. I tryed to stay put at the carboot after that, well I did find some vintage needles and some bangles to cover with ribbons.
I think if we added up what we had made against what I spent we would have made a loss!

We had such a fun day though, Tony begrudgingly (but with a smile) had to admit he had had great fun, he did manage to go walkabout to, but not sure he bought a lot, I was to busy peeping into the back of the van at my stash to notice ;)

Confession 2

2009-06-01T03:18:00.000-07:00

I managed to find some packets of buttons in one of our local charity shops :) and also a lovely tin of buttons on e-bay whoops!

I seriously needed some button therapy on Saturday..woke up all tearful and v tired, I had actually had a bit of a grumpy week. (Suffering from pmt) Which is not good when working with the general public ;0.
Any way I tried a Bachs remedy which seemed to lift my spirits enough, I decided to sort some of my buttons with Arthur. He really enjoyed sorting the colours.
Then I remembered the two jars of buttons I'd been saving, so we added those to the pile too.
Then we sorted them and searched for the treasure ones (really old ones)
I then washed them and let them dry outside to remove some of the musty smell.
This was the treasure, some Art deco ones some really old metal ones (over a 100 years). The leather one looks very old too I will try and find out where its from.

That cheered me up lots!! The shop was quite quiet on Sat due to the gorgeous weather so I spent the afternoon sat in the sun sewing and nattering to Kate (also into collecting vintage fabrics, and makes gorgeous pinnies and cushions). My arms were a little bit pink by the end of the afternoon, stupidly forgot that the sun can burn..doh!

Ended the day a lot happier (family were relieved when they eventually ventured back home ;)

Confession 1

2009-05-18T00:51:00.000-07:00

This is pics from The Dairy House, which should have appeared at the bottom :)
I confess to buying more buttons.. for my work of course :)

We had a great day out and i have to admit I got my button fix!

I was in a bit of a restrained mood though, and left a lovely glass fronted cupboard that could have been great for storing button jars in The Glory Hole. From there I took home some old curtains to repurpose and a knitting bag to put in the shop . No buttons :(

We then went for lunch at The Farmyard Picnic which was fab, a little bit cold and wintery so fairly quiet. We followed lunch with cake :) A brilliant place to escape from the real world. I will be putting some of my handmade bits for sale there, they have been waiting a while, I promised I would deliver a box on Wednesday (any excuse for more cake !), So no pressure ;)

Then we drove back up the A350 to The Dairy House to visit Sue from Vintage to Victorian.

Soooo many buttons and gorgeous vintage fabric some from the 18th Century.

Arthur was getting a bit tired by the time we got there and was to whiney for me to concentrate properly, which was probably a good thing really.

There are lots of drawers to open and sift through, full of buttons there was also tubs of buttons that Sue was sorting which were unpackaged, so you get that lovely childhood feeling of going through grannys button box.

I came home with the ones above, which i am going to turn into bracelets and put a few in my shop. I like to share a proportion of what I buy (for a price obviously ;), because I can not use them all at once.

Now some pictures have gone completely missing??!! and will now end up on top as I add them in. One day I may get the hang of this.

trying to decide how to get my fix.

2009-05-17T02:43:00.000-07:00

The weather is awful so I have abandoned any hope of going car booting. Instead i have had a nice lie in reading the papers, followed by a bath with real coffee and magazines (for button inspiration.) so quite a blissful start to the day.

I work from home running a shop attatched to the house so by the time the weekend comes round I am desperate to get out.

I have been trying to work out where to go and hunt button and vintage treasure without getting wet (so not a real addict yet or I would go regardless of the weather ! )

I am also trying to involve a nice lunch..so I think the Glory Hole in Sturminster Newton, (a mixture of vintage and house clearance bits, you never know what you will find and his prices are very good. Arthur usually manages to find treasure too, Like firemans helmets. ) followed by lunch at The Farmyard picnic cafe at Childe Okeford where I know a lot of other button and vintage addicts hang out :)

I am also tempted to go to The Dairy House at Semley stocked with the most fantastic vintage fabrics and draws filled with buttons... right thats it I,m off!

I was just trying to links to some of the above places..and i can't believe what came up for glory hole..I think if I was going to use that for a name I would have googled it first?!!!

The give away signs.

2009-05-16T10:39:00.000-07:00

I didn't notice at first, it has gradually creeping up on me this need for buttons in my life.

It probably started about this time last year when i bought some buttons for my shop, and to make things with. Then I bought some vintage ones, and a tin full of buttons amazing to sort through and that was it..I am smitten.

There are signs that give that let me know how bad its got.

Like buttons turning up in the dinner, Where I have tried to get rid of the musty smell by washing them in the colander and a few buttons have gone astray later turning up in the mash potato.

Then there's the boys always having buttons stuck to there feet as the buttons work there way to my work space, which is surrounded by button jars of all descriptions, and button tins, and boxes of very special 'treasure buttons'.

Then there is the giveaway signs when I am out shopping. I look at things not for the kitchen or the house but how they would look with buttons in. (this is also creeping into my buying for the shop)

I buy clothes from secondhand stores and jumble sales to embellish with buttons, occasionally I buy clothes just for the buttons.

I spend my weekend searching for old button tins and jars full of button treasure.

I now have button books so that I know a bit more of the history of the buttons I am collecting, I have yet to find one with good photographs in though!

So you see I am in deep!

I am not looking for a cure, I will just use this blog to write about my button adventures and for button confessions. Also to show all the lovely things that can be made with buttons (the more i use up the more i can buy..hee..hee)

Do join me with your confessions :)